A tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck 197 miles (317 kilometers) southwest of Santiago, and at a depth of 36.9 miles (59.4 kilometers) at 3:34 a.m. (0634 GMT; 1:34 a.m. EST). Shaken and collapsed buildings have been reported in the capital, Santiago. Communications are down. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for Chile and Peru, and a less-urgent tsunami watch for Ecuador.

Thanks to both Pierre, and Xavier who shared this link, you can see how the events unfolded, and how – thanks to the pilot Chesley « Sully » Sullenberg, the flight officer Jeffrey Skiles, and the air traffic controller’s self-control – the flight 1549 passengers remained unscathed: (you can read the radiocommunication transcript in the bottom right corner of the video hereafter)

As I have been told that this post about Rafales vs Eurofighter Typhoons, F-16s, and F-22s left some in disbelief, I believe it is fair to point out that some elements were written in bold typing as « rumours », and the publications quoted were not « filed » as rumours though it might have been some rumours as well – who knows, indeed?

For instance, many times gossip spread about Mirage 2000s that would never shoot F-16s down. Never ever? Watch below…

Many (on a global basis – which means not everybody) people still believe that no Rafale could outperform any F-16. Let us watch hereafter (in French, sorry).

For those who cannot speak French, it is mentioned in this video that the Rafales defeated the F-16s in a US AFB, and the score would have been 6 – 2.

Well, let us go back to the previous Rafales’ performance post for I have not added further information I had read before from a remarkable Swiss aviation specialist’s website: AVIA NEWS. Pascal – AVIA NEWS webmaster – let me quote his analysis according to which the Rafale obtained the best score (95%) among the fighter aircraft evaluated for choosing which will replace the Swiss Air Force’s F-5 Tiger. The other two competitors were the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter / Typhoon. I am going to update my previous article about this figure.

Last but not least: The Dutch did compare various fighter aircraft in 2002. Who remembers? The RNLAF – the Royal Netherlands Air Force – carried out this study and the balance sheet came out in the Dutch press:

Here is the rating reported:

F-35 = 6.97

RAFALE = 6.95

Eurofighter = 5.83

F-16 Block 60 = 5.80

Well, we must admit that the JSF / F-35 Lightning II is the best fighter among those that were assessed. However it was a close shave, wasn’t it?

Some might say « it was just an illusion ». Well, why not? Illusion would be everywhere – as for instance:

Do you really think that a serious R&D organisation is used to issuing so-called inaccurate reports?

Do you really think that a DGA/CHEAr research director would recognize that the Rafale can be on a par with the JSF / F-35 Lightning II? This is what happened during a symposium (colloque) in January 2006.

As a conclusion, many people still believe that F-16s can outperform Rafales, MiG-29s, Eurofighters, and even Su-27s. This is not an illusion.

The experiment, conducted at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, serves as a proof-of-concept demonstration for directed energy technology. The Airborne Laser Testbed is a pathfinder for the nation’s directed energy program and its potential application for missile defense technology.

Read further on the YAL-1A, a modified Boeing 747-400F known as the Airborne Laser on: >>>>>